The year is almost over and 2014 was a fantastic year for us. Not only was 2014 of course the year that this website started, it also saw quite some improvements over the past few months and lots and lots and lots of My Little Pony merchandise!

How it all started

Our old background

Our websites started on February 24 and we wrote a total of 4 posts on that day. Our focus was the NY Toy Fair 2014 coverage, which was one of the most popular posts of this year. A lot of merchandise was announced and throughout 2014 we saw more and more confirmations and releases of the merch announced there. Even up to September and October did we see new releases that we've known since the NY Toy Fair.
We also picked up the pace with posts and grew wider with categories and got more sources to report from. In the beginning of MLPMerch.com we did not have a single merch database, did not report on comics or knew much about the world of Taobao.

Growth in numbers

Pageviews per month

To show you all how much we've grown since February I'd like to use some numbers. For example our daily visitor count. While we got only a handful of pageviews in February, that amount already grew to around 15k in March and eventually to around 270k in December: Overall we had over 1.5 MILLION pageviews this year with visitors from 173 countries!
Our most popular post of our first month was our blind bag hoof codes guide with just over 1.000 views and in the past month our most popular page was the Equestria Girls Database with nearly 10.000 pageviews!
And the award for most popular page of the entire year goes to: The Wave 10 Blind Bag Codes post with more than 35.000 views.

Merch Databases

Our current MLP Merch Databases

Something we also gradually rolled out on our website are the MLP Merch Databases. We started out with the Comic and Commercial databases that we completely wrote ourselves. That later changed to a blind bag database that was partially written ourselves and a little part of code and now we have a huge library of 6 merch type that is fully supported by code and is easier to maintain and update for us.

Plans and predictions for 2015

Amy, the MLPMerch.com mascot

We have big expectations for the 2015 UK and NY Toy Fairs and can't wait to see what Hasbro has planned for 2015! We already know that a lot of Cutie Mark Magic will be released, at least in the first quarters, but there is always more that we don't know yet. We haven't seen anything of the next series of blind bags and Equestria Girls dolls for example!
Besides lots of new merch posts we are also looking forward to adding 2 new merch databases and host many more giveaways amongst our readers!
And of course Amy, our mascot, will stick with us and help us find more merch, besides looking good on our website banner!
We're also continuously looking for ways to improve our website by making it better accessible for mobile users, faster loading times and better image quality.
If you have any suggestions for things we can improve in 2015, feel free to let us know!

And this will be my last post for 2014. I want to thank all our readers, followers and fans that have supported us and making this website a success. We are pleased to post more My Little Pony merchandise posts in 2015 and hope to see you and all other fans in the next year. We can't wait for what next year will bring us!

The My Little Pony sub-website of Hasbro.com has received a Cutie Mark Magic make-over, indicating that 2015 will indeed be the official launch of Cutie Mark Magic merchandise.
Both the header and background has been changed and so did the overall color pallet.
At the top there is also a banner saying 'Discover the Magic of Cutie Marks', but after the link you're redirected to the usual list of products on Hasbro.com, none of them being Cutie Mark Magic. We expect that CMM products will be added in the first weeks of January, hopefully with some releases or photos we haven't seen before!
For more information on the currently known and available Cutie Mark Magic merch, please take a look in our MLP Brushable Database!

The third series of FASH'EMS figures by Tech4Kids have been spotted at Target for $3.99 each. The first videos and eBay listings start to appear, and thanks to those people we now know what figures are inside!
This series will contain re-releases of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Twilight and introduce the CMC to the world of FASH'EMS. These figures are small squishy figures with a small body and big head, but all details like wings, tails and horns included. You can buy them in little pods containing 1 figure, but it's to be expected that other type of releases such as 2-packs or fashion blisters like series 1 and 2.
Thanks to Toy Genie Surprises and Toy Reviews For You for the info and images!

Order him here!

And again it seems like some new blind bags have been found. And this time it's quite... interesting. Instead of different colours they decided to make every blind bag transparent green with glitter and painted manes. I actually quite like them. Like some sort of emerald series.


As it looks like for now these are made by the same people who made these. You can see they use the same mold. Especially the wings from the Rainbow Dash one looks familiar. The one in the older post are now all showing up on Ebay so hopefully these will do to! The images were found on Taobao.

It took a while, but instead of overly priced 3rd parties, Amazon is now finally officially selling the Sunset Shimmer and Princess Cadance brushables from the Cutie Mark Magic series. Just earlier today we already posted about Target selling them in stores, but for those who want to buy it online Amazon is the place to go. Both are priced at $16.99 and at the time of writing both have limited supplies lasting. (Live in the UK? They are also available on Amazon UK!)
As usual below are both the listings to the brushable and more images of the two:

Great news for everyone in the US: Target has a huge sale on a lot of items until January 3 and there are some interesting MLP products included! For MLP the prices are up to 50% off, even for the Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze 2-pack!
Besides MLP there are tons of other toys and products that are also on sale at Target.
Below we have all the MLP products that are currently on sale at Target with their price changes:

Great news for everyone in the US: Cutie Mark Magic is finally getting some more releases in the states with the addition of the Princess Cadance and Sunset Shimmer Fashion Styles at Target. Besides these fashion style ponies the Glamour Glow Rarity and Charm Carriage Twilight Sparkle have also been released and are available at Target. The two ponies are priced at $19.99, but there are some reports that they are $14.99 at the current Target sale.
Note that these are also available in the UK at Amazon.

They already start to appear in several stores. But for those who want to buy the single Cutie Mark Magic brushables or the charm wings ones online, you can now also order them on Amazon. The single brushables are available for $9.99 and the Charm Wings ones for $11.99.

Listings

Singles:
- Applejack
- Rainbow Dash
- Skywishes
- Sunset Shimmer
- Sweetie Drops
- Twilight Sparkle

Charm Wings:
- Fluttershy
- Honey Rays
- Rainbow Dash

An interesting new fakie has been sighted this week: a fake Princess Cadance brushable with glimmer wings! She was found in the Czech Republic and seems to be the first fake shimmer wings pony that has transparent wings. She comes with a set of, probably very flimsy, accessories and for once her box does not contain loads of stolen artwork and weird OC vectors. Apart from the glossy body her eyes and cutie mark seem of good quality and the wings are neat too.
Thanks to Dominika for the image!

Seems like Cutie Mark Magic will be a line with lots of re-releases as apparently someone has found this piece. Yep, what you see here is the Rainbow Power Twilight + Breezie 2-pack re-released even when this set is less then a year old! The Princess 2-packs are also getting a re-release just like the Styling Strand Ponies from the Rainbow Power line. I do however like the new Vector for Twilight. Looks much more dynamic, kinda like how Rainbow Dash would pose!

No information is known where this piece was found. If you know it please leave a comment.

Thanks to Pixelkitties for the image!

The first wave of Cutie Mark Magic singles have finally been spotted, and again they're first in Singapore. These have been sighted at OG, a department store in Singapore. So far Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rainbow Dash have been found, but it's possible that Sunset Shimmer, Sweetie Drops and Skywishes are also out as these have been spotted the earliest. The second wave of Cutie Mark Magic singles will probably feature Fluttershy, Flower Wishes, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, but sadly we've not seen images of Rarity yet so it might be divided in 3 waves as well.
Thanks to Cosmicpony for the images!

Amazon UK is really releasing a lot of merch all of a sudden with the addition of not only the Rockin' Hairstyle dolls and neon Sweetie Drops and Bon Bon dolls but also the Cutie Mark Magic Princess Cadance and Sunset Shimmer Fashion Style ponies. Amazon UK joins the Canadian Toys"R"Us with the release of these dolls and we've yet to see them release in the US and Europe.
As usual the Fashion Style brushables come with a complete outfit and lots of accessories. And of course as this is a Cutie Mark Magic release some charms are also included.
Thanks to Ciaran Gowenlock for the update!

Amazon UK not only listed the first wave of Rockin' Hairstyle dolls, but also the new Sweetie Drops (Bon Bon) and Lyra Equestria Girls Dolls! Weirdly enough the other ponies of this wave: Cheerilee, Amethyst Star and Roseluck are missing in Amazon UK, or will be released later.
These are basic Rainbow Rocks neon dolls without articulation, but I'm glad that Hasbro introduces so many new characters to their list of Equestria Girls characters.
Thanks to carwyynx for the update!

We, Ilona and Ossie of MLP Merch, wish you all a very happy (late) Christmas! Hope you all received some nice (pony) presents! Have some Christmas "Fun Lovely Pony"fakies!

Thanks to asktualaesparquel for the heads up!

The Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks Rocking Hairstyle Dolls that we've learned more about over the past few weeks are available on the Amazon UK store. At the moment the first wave (Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle) are available for £19.98, which is around the expected price-level for deluxe dolls. The dolls are fully jointed and have special hairstyles that fit a specific music genre or period in time: Rainbow Dash for example has a punk theme with lots of black, spikes and the Union Jack (how fitting for a UK release!).
The dolls are not in stock right now, but can be ordered and will be shipped out as soon as Amazon has them in stock.
The other members of the mane 6 are expected to release soon as Rocking Hairstyle wave 2 dolls.

Our first giveaway with 3 Aurora Winter Gear plushies has ended today! In total 545 eligible entries has been counted and the lucky winner was contestant #221 (thanks to random.org) and (s)he joined via Tumblr on the very first day. This person has been contacted and has 3 days to mail us their shipping info (after which we'll pick a new winner).

Didn't win this time? No need to be sad! We're already preparing for a next giveaway and will let you know as soon as it starts, so stay tuned on our blog, Facebook, Twitter and/or Tumblr to keep posted on the newest My Little Pony merchandise and future giveaways!

We want to thank you all for joining our first giveaway and we wish you all happy holidays!

Last week we asked you which wave of blind bags you liked the most. You massively voted on this one and the clear winner is the just released wave 11 blind bag set! Probably because of all the show accurate figures and new mold designs that were included. A lot of votes also went to wave 12 blind bags, which will be released in early 2015 and contain a re-release of wave 1 (weird that wave 1 didn't get too many votes?). Between the number 2 and 3 there is a big difference of about 11%! Wave 12 is followed by Wave 10, 1 and 9. Other waves got less than 5% of the votes and seem to be less popular or long forgotten.

A few weeks ago we reported that a Styling Strands Rarity had been found in Cutie Mark Magic Packaging. We were a bit skeptical at first because her Rainbow Power version was released less then a year ago! But the French Amazon has confirmed that she will be indeed be re-released and part of the Cutie Mark Magic Line. A reason can be also because she wasn't available everywhere.

Right now she's listed on the French Amazon website for 27,23 euros but she's currently out of stock. We have no idea when she will be available but we will keep you guys updated.

Remember that strange Fluttershy Blind Bag I had received in the mail not long ago? Turns out she isn't fake! In fact she;'s part of a brand new Cutie Mark Magic Themed Board Game called the "Ponyville Party Game" It comes with 3 Blind Bag Figures of Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Right now it is listed on the Canadian Amazon but no price or release date is known but we will let you know when we know more!

Listing: Ponyville Party Game

Today the 26th issue of the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic comic series has been released. We have 4 covers for you, 1 of which sadly is of bad quality, we're still waiting for Hot Topic's official listing of that one.
This is the second comic in the 2-part story arc of Applejack and the Cattle Rustler gang,. which started in issue #25.
You can get the comic at your local comic store or online at Amazon (Cover A/B or Cover RI).

The first My Little Pony G4 Play-Doh set has been listed on the Target website. The Rainbow Dash Style Salon Playset is available right now (in stock) and costs $14.99.
The set contains a Rainbow Dash pony figure which has slots that you can fit Play-Doh clay in to decorate her body. Rainbow Dash comes with 6 colors of clay (luckily the colors of the rainbow more or less!) and a pair of scissors. You can also flip open her forelock and put clay into her head to create a braid (just like the Play-Doh factory sets).
Soon 2 more MLP Play-Doh sets will be released: The Make-N-Style Ponies Set and the Cutie Mark Creators Set.
Thanks to Jskr76 for the info!

An interesting found on Taobao! We have stumbled upon this new Blind Bag of Red Gala, she also was part of the Wave 4 Blind Bag Series under the name "Crimson Gala" but most people refer her to as "Red Gala" She's part of the Apple Family

The interesting fact is that she's a completely different new mold! Looks like the earth Ponies will finally receive a new mold as well. As so far we have no idea for what set/wave she's gonna appear in. Maybe in wave 13? Or maybe we will finally get some new Blind Bag 3-packs. Anyways, we will let you know when we know more!

A final reminder for everyone who has not yet joined our giveaway: these are the last 24 hours in which you can join our giveaway for 3 Aurora Winter Gear MLP Plushies! These are the brand new Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash plushies by Aurora with cute scarfs and caps. These were sponsored for the giveaway by Littles Toy Company!

Read our detailed blogpost to learn how you can enter our giveaway!

And don't forget that:
- You can join with either Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr
- You can join with 2 or more social networks to double or triple your chance of winning
- We ship the plushies worldwide, completely free!

Since the announcement of the #26 Friendship is Magic comic only the B cover was revealed. Now during a small preview of the comic they have also revealed cover A.

This cover is based off the movie "The good, the Bad and the Ugly" bit instead of Ugly they decided to go with "ponies". This comic will have a western theme and Applejack will be a sheriff.

The Funko Rainbow Dash with metallic mane and tail is finally listed on the Hot Topic website. She is listed as the Hot Topic 25th anniversary exclusive release, but luckily she is priced like all other Funko ponies at Hot Topic: $22.50 or $18 at the current sale.
It's unlikely that she will appear outside of Hot Topic, but it's not impossible as more exclusive merch eventually gets released somewhere else.
If you want to learn more about all ponies that Funko release so far, feel free to take a look around in our MLP Funko Figure Database.

Many new ponies and dolls have been added on the Toys"R"Us website. Amongst them are the Cutie Mark Magic Charm Wings ponies, Cutie Mark Magic Fashion Style ponies and the Rainbow Rocks Slumber Party dolls.
As of lately Toys"R"Us Canada has been listing many of the new ponies and is yet again very early in listing these ponies and dolls. The slumber party dolls have also been found in stores, and I guess that the Princess Cadance and Sunset Shimmer fashion style ponies will be available in stores soon too (if not already).
Below we have all listings of the newly added ponies:

Target has finally listed the Glamour Glow Rarity from the Cutie Mark Magic line on their website. The brushable pony can be bought for $19.99 and the listing has all the neat features that Target introduces lately like interactive images and videos. Sadly the page is still a bit broken and works best on mobile devices (this has been going on for months!).

Not only is the Glamour Glow Rarity interesting because of her unique looks, she is also the first Cutie Mark Magic release and has been in various countries and stores. The release of Rarity means that more Cutie Mark Magic merchandise is set to release soon, and so we expect to see more CMM listings on the Target website in the coming days or weeks!

While looking through the Canadian Amazon Website we came across this Funrise Ponyville ox Set. This set contains five 5 inch Funrise Plush including a limited Edition Lyra. It also comes with a Rainbowfied Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle and Cheerilee as well.

The listing says's this set is retired but most of us haven't seen it before. It;s also a it unlikely because it's Rainbow Power which line Funrise is still making plush of. Take the Christmas Plushies as an example.

You can order this set for $59.99 Canadian Dollars. You can find the listing here.

The RI (Retailer Incentive) cover variant of the yesterday announced Friendship is Magic #29 Comic has been found. It's the first My Little Pony comic cover for s-bis as far as I can see, and it looks very cute!
This cover will also be released on March 4, 2015 and for those who don't know RI covers: these are rare (1:10) covers that you could possible get when ordering the comic or buy one at the comic stores. However, some online retailers split out the different covers so you can buy the RI cover itself, but usually for a higher price.

Thanks to MadamePomNews for the image!

The My Little Pony PEZ dispensers were said to release in 2015, but the first batches have already popped up on eBay by a seller from Slovenia. The packaging and dispensers have not been changed over the past few months when compare to the earlier found images.
We are not sure whether these have been found in stores or that these are early releases.
I personally have not seen these in stores yet in The Netherlands, but perhaps someone from other European countries has? Let us know in the comments!

Our poll from last week was about placed to shop. We focused on online vs offline and here are the results: The votes are more or less equally devided. Most people who shop in local stores also buy at one or two online places. Only a few shop only online, while a slightly larger group shops only offline. The most common place online to buy MLP merch is Amazon, closely followed by eBay. Another big group shops at websites of physical stores like Target and Walmart. Other online shoppers are devided over smaller online (speciality) stores like Entertainment Earth, ToyWiz or others. And finally there are 4 people who also shop online at Taobao (possibily through an agent).

On Monday we reported on new sightings of the fake MLP trading cards. But apparently someone already made a review about these, with images! In this post you can see a short version of the review including the images. Thanks to Bootleg Vamp for the images and info!

Even more comic news today as the Equestria Girls Holiday Special comic has been released today!
This is the second comic in the annual line of Equestria Girls comics and this year the comic will be based on the Rainbow Rocks movie and 48-pages thick.
You can get the comic at your local comic store or various online stores, like Amazon. Or get the exclusive cover at Hastings (exclusive cover releases on December 24).

And just like every month IDW does not only announced a new Friends Forever comic, but a Friendship is Magic comic as well, and this month it's time for the 29th issue.
This issue will feature a new story arc about Cheerilee and her sister who is a famous wrestler!
So far we only have cover A of this comic, but expect a lot more covers towards the release date, which is March 4, 2015.

This months IDW list of comics for March include the Friends Forever #15 comic. The comic features the friendship between Mayor Mare and, by looking at the cover, a very angry Applejack!
The comic has two covers as usual: the regular variant (top left) and a cover for subscribers of the Friends Forever Comic series (top right).
The comic will be release on March 18 and will be available for $3.99.